Etsy...you're killing me.

The fact of the matter is that when Etsy switched the search there from recently listed to relevancy my shop took a nosedive. Even after doing everything I could figure out with tags/titles/sections/announcement/about me etc. I researched what to do and I did it.

It did make a difference, but did not change the reality that my shop views and item views are way lower than they were before the change. I was listing new stuff every day so recently listed really worked for me. Because I didn't list a large amount of items, the ones I did have sold very quickly. This is good, yeah....except for that you never get into search relevancy that way.

If this test goes live and has the same affect on Google search that the last change had on Etsy search then it is BAD.

Before the last round of big ideas Etsy implemented I would get 50-60 views per item per day in my shop on my popular pieces during busy months. Even after months and months of doing the only things I knew how to do to fix it I now only get about 10 views a day on my items.

UNLESS I post direct links on Facebook, Twitter, my website and/or my blog. Then my views skyrocket.

That tells me that all Etsy is doing for my money right now is acting as a shopping cart and an image host. AND getting me higher in Google.

As soon as they no longer get me higher in Google...they will have outlived their usefulness. (Just like I have outlived my usefulness to them.)

If I have to push traffic to my Etsy shop instead of Etsy bringing the traffic to me then what the heck am I paying them for? I can just as easily push traffic somewhere else and pay a lot less. I already have a website, all I need to do is install a shopping cart.

If I paid $200/month for a fully functioning shopping cart with all the bells and whistles, it would still be less than I'm paying Etsy to host images and checkout purchases that I made happen myself.

For all those people out there saying 'You're gonna quit over a BANNER?' No. It's not about the freaking banners. For all those saying, 'Goodbye...don't let the door hit you on the way out'...thanks a lot. You are the shops that Etsy is optimizing for. Of course you like the changes. Go hire someone to make your $3 earrings and list them 100 at a time. Good for you!